Well, if you would, turn to Psalm 9. Psalm 9, I appreciate Derek and Pastor Stonehouse holding the fort while I was gone. But it is good to be back. I know y'all would be happy to know that because I did get to preach over there, I don't have to preach for three hours today to make up for it. Psalm 9, I know we've been going through the Psalms, but honestly, I couldn't have handpicked a better text for somewhat of, I guess, a New Year's message. And just by way of remembrance, the book of Psalms is 150 individual Psalms. It's not Psalm chapter 9, it's just the 9th Psalm. And these Psalms are Psalms. They were sung by the Jews. Psalms is basically the ancient Jewish hymn book. And Psalms is divided into five sections or five books, if you will, five scrolls when it was originally written. And book one is Psalm 1 through 41, and the theme that we have seen over and over and over again is human suffering and the need for divine deliverance. Haven't we seen David say from so many things thus far, save me from my enemies, save my life, forgive me for my sin, and forgive me for my faults, and just so many things that the psalmist cries out to be delivered from. That's what makes Psalm 9 and really Psalm 10 because they go together. But that's what makes Psalm 9 so unique because this is really a psalm of praise right in the midst of all this suffering that we've seen. You know, as you read Psalm 9, one might assume that maybe David was enjoying a season without suffering. We like to have those, don't we? We like to pray for those and seek those. And the longer I'm in this thing, I'm really believing that such a thing really doesn't exist in this life. I mean, I'm talking about to be totally without suffering with no problems at all. If that's you, friend, you better write it down and enjoy it. Because this life, we live in a fallen world. And life is hard. Death is certain. Sickness is certain. Relationship problems are certain. This life is not our home. And certainly, the title of this psalm is so important. Listen, the titles are important for every psalm. But if you miss the title here, you miss the whole thing. The title of this psalm completely obliterates the idea that David is not suffering during this psalm of praise. It says, to the chief musician, upon Muthlaban, a psalm of David. Now this word Muthlaban, it means the death of Laban. Muth is death in Hebrew. And so if it's Muth with a name beside it, it means the death of that person. This particular word can also mean, and can also be translated the death of a son. Now this is really interesting to me. The fact that David writes a psalm in honor of this person that has died who was obviously very close to him, and yet we have no idea who Laban is. He's not mentioned anywhere in Scripture. You can't find him in Jewish history. There is no record of who this person is, and yet he must have been really important in the life of David, or he would have never written a psalm in honor to him. This is why many scholars believe, and I agree with this theory, They believe this is the firstborn son of David and Bathsheba who died as a result and a judgment for their sin. The name of that child is never mentioned in Scripture. Think about that. Put that in context for a minute. You find that story in 2 Samuel chapter 12. David and Bathsheba have committed adultery. She's pregnant. She's about to give birth to that son. David's already been greeted, if you want to call greeted, by Nathan the prophet to proclaim judgment that that firstborn child is going to die as a result of their sin. In 2 Samuel 12, David is a basket case. The child's been born, and he's pacing the floor. He can't eat. He can't sleep. He's just miserable. But when the child dies, his servants are kind of having this conversation behind David's back. They're like, how are we going to tell? If he's this crazy when the child was alive, how are we going to break the news to him that he's died? And David kind of overhears them whispering, and he understands what has happened. And he goes to the temple, or the tabernacle rather, and he worships God. That was his first reaction was to go to the tabernacle and worship God. And then he comes back to his house. He's able to eat. He's able to rest. His spirit seems lighter and his servants say, David, I've just got to ask you, and of course this is my paraphrase, how is it that while the child was still alive, You were just miserable. You couldn't eat, you couldn't sleep, and now you're eating, you're resting, you seem happier. How is this possible? And David answers this. He said, well, when the child was alive, I thought that God might be gracious unto me and spare him, but he kept his word and he took the child. He said, now I don't have to worry about it. He said, I know that the child will not return unto me, but I will go unto him. And so David found comfort in knowing that he was going to see his son again in heaven with the Lord. And that's where he found his comfort. He didn't have to agonize over it anymore. And most scholars believe that Psalm 9 was written in response to losing that child and the worship that ensued. So it's not that David wasn't suffering. Listen, it's bad enough to have to bury a child, but to bury that child and know that his death was a judgment for your sin, I just, it's overwhelming. We've already talked about that. But this is the context, most likely, that this psalm was written in. This has to be one of the lowest times in David's life, and yet in the midst of all of it, he writes this amazing psalm of praise unto God who has just taken his child in judgment. But if you remember, if David could have peace in something like that, what a great guideline for us. Now, but the reason is that David trusted God in judgment and mercy. And he knew that he would see his son again. So with this background in mind, let's read the text here. I'm just going to read the first 10 verses for context. That's what we're going to be looking at this morning. And then we'll look at the second half next week. But let's read the Word of God together. Psalm 9, beginning in verse 1. I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. I will show forth all Thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee. I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High. When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. For thou hast maintained my right and my cause, thou saddest in the throne, judging right. Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name forever and ever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end, and thou hast destroyed cities. Their memorial is perished with them. But the Lord shall endure forever. He hath prepared His throne for judgment, and He shall judge the world in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee, for Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just come to You. in the precious and holy and lovely name of Jesus, Lord, I'm just thankful to be saved from my sin this morning. I'm thankful that through the blood of Christ, through His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection, that we can be brought into a right relationship with You. Lord, I pray if there's somebody here that doesn't know Jesus Christ and the part of their sins, that they would be saved today, that today would be the day of salvation. Lord, we're so thankful for what you did in and through this church and in and through our lives individually. We're thankful for what you've done this past year. But Lord, we look forward to what you're going to do. We look forward to who you are. God, I pray that this year we would draw closer to you than we've ever been before. Lord, that we would see prayers answered this year. And God, we'll give you the glory for all of it. God, hide me behind the shadow of the cross, fill me with your Holy Spirit, enter me as sin itself, and I pray that Christ will be magnified. Help your people today. And it's in the name of Christ we pray these things. Amen. I want to preach this morning on the thought of, I will praise you, O Lord. I absolutely love that phrase. But the question is, when we find ourselves in a situation like David, when we're suffering, when we're going through trials and heartache and pain and doubt and fear and worry, how can we praise the Lord, not just half-heartedly? He says with His whole heart, I will praise you, Lord. How can we do that when we walk through these dark valleys? I would say this before I even get into the first point. I would say, what a great motto for the new year. I will praise you, oh Lord, with my whole heart. That's a good motto to live by for life. But if we're getting with the mottos of the year of mantras, I will praise you, Lord, in 2024. I will praise you more in 2024. And I know what you're all thinking. That man is a poet and didn't know it. How do we do that, especially when we're suffering? Well, number one, I want you to know that even in the midst of suffering, we can praise Him for what He has done. Isn't that a great thing for the new year? I mean, we like to look back. We can look back on what He's already done. Look at verse 1. I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart I will show forth all thy marvelous works. In other words, David is going to, he's going to proclaim what the Lord has already done in and through his life. David seems to be making a resolution here, resolved to praise the Lord. I love this because he does use the covenant name of Yahweh, or Jehovah as it's sometimes called, as we sang in the hymn this morning. But we know that because Lord has all letters in capitals, that he's talking about Yahweh. This is very personal. He's calling on God personally. And for those who are saved and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, listen, praising the Lord is a proactive choice. You know, there are just certain things I want you to understand we're never going to do by accident. It's just not going to happen. Listen, if y'all just want to go ahead and know and go ahead and hold my feet to the fire, I've got to lose weight this year. I'm back up to 225, and I have learned that when I get over 220, that's when my blood pressure goes haywire. And it's haywire right now, and I'm not even mad about anything. And I'm serious, the doctor told me even before I went to Alabama, he said, listen, if you do not exercise hard for at least 30 minutes a day and get your weight under that mark, he said, you will not live to be an old man, exact quote. And so I know some of you got your fingers crossed that I in fact can't do it, but I'm going to try. And so I said that to say I'm not going to lose weight by accident. I'm going to have to, on purpose, change the way that I eat and change the way and how much I exercise. It's going to have to happen by choice, on purpose. you're not going to accidentally praise God. It's going to have to be something that you do on purpose. You're going to have to go out of your way and it's got to start in here of thoughts of God. And in this instance, David is thinking about things that God has accomplished in the past. By the way, David had a habit of doing this. Immediately when I read this, my mind went to as he was going to stand before Goliath and everybody told him he was crazy. What did he say? He said, the Lord has already delivered me from the bear and from the lion, and this uncircumcised Philistine is going to end up just like them. You know what he's doing? He's saying, listen, God's already brought me through bigger things than him. Listen, when you're in a trial and you're suffering, it is a good habit, it is a good weapon to have in your arsenal to praise God for the victories that He's already brought you through. Because I can tell you there's been seasons in my life, there's been things that I have been through and things that we have been through as a family that when I was in the midst of it, I did not think we were going to make it through. And yet I look back and God brought us through, and not only did He bring us through it, but I can look back and I can see His hand, I can see things that He accomplished through that, things that He accomplished in me and broke me of and changed in me, and I can say, praise the Lord, look at what He did. But you know what happens so many times? We get in a new trial that we've never seen before. We're overcome by the emotion of it all, and we completely forget about what He's already brought us through. We get in this trial, and we say, there's no way that I make it through this. There's no way that God can bring me through this. And it's like, how quickly we forget. What about those times where you felt that exact same way, and yet God brought you through it, and you can praise Him for every bit of it? Well, this is different. The only thing different is you're in it right now. That's the only difference. And so we need to praise Him for past victories and recognize that. Here when He says, I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. By the way, this is the first and greatest commandment. We find this in Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 5. And Jesus repeated this in the Gospel. The first and greatest commandment. is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. David said specifically in verse 1 that he would praise the Lord for his marvelous works. Has God done anything marvelous in your life? In other words, I'll praise Him for what He's already done. Sometimes I just wonder, if God would bless us with more, if we would praise Him more for what He's already done for us and what He's already given us. I've tried to teach our kids, you know, when somebody gives you something, when they do something for you, you know, Christmas is always a great reminder of this example. Be grateful. And I have seen kids before in the past, and I'm sure I've probably been that kid. that you're like, that's it? Is that all? I didn't even want that. You know, you just want to just lay hands on them in Jesus' name, you know? And it's just different, man. I mean, you know that if you're going to do something for somebody else or get something for them, whatever the case may be, you're a whole lot more inclined to do it again if they're grateful for what you do. And if they're not grateful, you think, well, I'll go find somebody that is. And I'm glad the Lord is not that petty. But I can promise you, He does hate murmuring and complaining. Just ask the Jews who went in circles in the wilderness for 40 years, talking about how good they had it back in Egypt. Yeah, it was real good in Egypt, wasn't it? So, praising God and remembering past victories brings us peace in the present. So again, has the Lord done any marvelous works in your life? Think about those things. I mean, in my own life, just from 30,000 feet, just being saved. And not only being saved from my sin and being saved from the wrath of God to come and from judgment and hell and all those things, but think about what it took for salvation. That God came to this earth through the womb of a virgin. We just got through celebrating Christmas. that God Himself, the Creator of all things, Jesus Christ, would enter into His creation, that He would enter into our suffering and enter into our death and die for our sin, it's an unimaginable truth. But then He rose from the dead on day three. Listen, friend, if all we did was think about in the past how He came to this earth, died for our sin and rose from the dead, we're already leveling up. We're already feeling better. That ought to be our thoughts. So in spite of whatever you're going through, you can always praise the Lord for what He has done. But, I mean, we could go further. I could talk about my kids. I mean, we shouldn't have been able to have kids, probably. And certainly, they were all miracles, but Laura, certainly, we didn't... I think we took about 60 pregnancy tests. We just couldn't believe it, you know? I think about His provision, how He's gotten us through trials. I mean, we could go on and on and on. But in spite of everything we go through, we can praise Him for what He has done. So resolved, I will praise the Lord with my whole heart. So we can praise Him for what He's done. But secondly, even if we're suffering, we can always praise Him for who He is. Look at verse two, I love this. I will be glad and rejoice in my finances. Is that what he said? I will rejoice and be glad in my marriage and all my relationships. I will rejoice and be glad in my children because I know they're never going to mess up or make any mistakes. I mean, no. It says, I will be glad and rejoice in thee. I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most high. So now not only is David praising him for his marvelous works, he's praising him for who he is. Remember again that David is very likely grieving over the death of his son as a result of God's judgment. And yet he said, I will praise thee and I will rejoice in thee. Man, this is good gracious. I could spend a week on this. This is amazing to me. If it is true, and I believe that it is, that this psalm was written in response to the death of his firstborn son, God was the one who took him. as a result of his judgment. Can you imagine the bitterness that could have come from that? Can you imagine the anger? I mean, how many people do you know who are bitter at God because he either did something or didn't do something or allowed something, caused great pain in their life, and they said, I'm not serving a God like that. How many people do you know? I got a long, long list. But friend, David, even in that moment, looks at God, and we're fixing to get to it in the rest of the text. He said, you're the righteous judge. You always do what's right. You're a good God. And I rejoice in the fact that even though you took my son, we will be together in eternity. And listen to this, friend. Oh, this is good. God might not have spared David's son, but he didn't spare his either. David was judged for his sin. Christ was judged for all of ours. Think about that. I mean, I know it wasn't time to get that detailed in the prophetic sense, but I mean, in my sanctified imagination, I could easily see a conversation where David says, why didn't you spare my son? I thought you might be gracious. Well, just find out I'm not going to spare mine either. Think about that. Listen, we don't have a high priest. We don't have a God who's not touched by the feeling of our infirmities and the things that we go through. But I can promise you, just like it says in Genesis, Abraham was pleading for Lot, and he said, will not the judge of all the earth do what's right? And the answer is yes. He's always going to do what's right. And so David here isn't someone who just knows about God, but he knows God. He has come to trust his character in judgment and even though he has taken his son, he knows that God will always do what's right. Now let me ask you this, do you ever just, just as you go about through your daily life, do you ever just stop and really think about who God is? If you don't do that, you need to do that. That's one reason I love to read after the Puritans. And yes, they use long English sentences that have a million commas before you get to a period. And sometimes it can be difficult to wade through. Some are better than others. But I love reading after the Puritans. Because those guys saw God in everything. They thought about God in everything they did. And I think it would be a great benefit to us if we would get back to that. But, I mean, do you really think about God in your everyday life and who He is? I mean, just some thoughts that popped into my mind as I was typing up this outline. He's all-loving. He's all-powerful. He's all-knowing. He's sovereign, gracious, merciful. He's the creator and sustainer of all things. He's the Savior who took on human flesh, died, and rose again. He's the mighty God, wonderful counselor, prince of peace, the seed of the woman. Lion of the tribe of Judah, the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star, our great high priest, the chief shepherd, the king of kings, and the Lord of lords. On a personal level, he's my God. He's my savior. He's my shepherd. He's my redeemer. Now, I thought about getting into the names of God, but if I did that, we would be eating lunch at the restaurant with a few Pentecostals that we have in this valley, so I can't do that. He's got almost 200 names in Scripture. He's an amazing God and we're going to be spending all eternity learning about Him. And so, I'll say this, so who is God to you? The truth is that the smaller your God is, the less praise He demands and deserves. And the less praise that you're going to give. Why worship a God who's not worthy of being worshipped? I mean, if He's just a man who progresses, then He's just a little bit further ahead on the trail than we are. But if He's the everlasting God, even the name Yahweh means the self-existent one. Nobody created Him. He's outside of time, space, and matter. He's the eternal God. The bigger your God, the more praise that He invokes. And here's just a spoiler alert in case you were wondering. We can't even comprehend in our finite mind how great God really is, and therefore you can never overemphasize how big He really is. Years ago, about a hundred years ago, there was a pastor over in Britain by the name of G. Campbell Morgan. There was a lady who went to him and asked, Brother Morgan, do you think that God ever gets annoyed when we ask Him for little things? And he said, ma'am, can you name one thing that's big to God? She said, I guess not. Everything's little to Him. Maybe big to us, but it's nothing to Him. Just like that old song says, remember when waves are over your head, they're under His feet. I love that. So get this before I move on. When you find yourself in the middle of heartbreaking trials, these dark valleys that you walk through, and you can't seem to praise God for your current circumstances, you can always praise Him for who He is. Listen, I don't know that God demands of us to be thankful. I don't think He required David to say, Lord, I'm thankful that my son died. I don't think He requires that. But we can always praise Him for who He is. So resolved, I will praise the Lord for who he is. Thirdly, and I'm done, number three, even in suffering, we can praise him for what he is going to do. In the new year, we look back, but I'm thankful we can look forward. We can praise him for what he's going to do. Let's look at verse three, and I'll read to verse 10. And by the way, what we're about to read is yet another reason that I think this is based around the loss of his son because he talks about the righteous judgment of God. And that's exactly what he was facing when he was in that situation. Verse 3, when my enemies are turned back, They shall fall and perish at thy presence. He has talked about literal enemies so far in the other Psalms, but this is rhetorical language. It's not specific. Verse 4, For thou hast maintained my right in my cause. Thou saddest in the throne, judging right. Thou hast rebuked the heathen. Thou hast destroyed the wicked. Thou hast put over their name for ever and ever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end. and now has destroyed cities, their memorial is perished with them. But the Lord shall endure forever. He hath prepared His throne for judgment, and He shall judge the world in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee, for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. And so I love the language here because David is talking about what the Lord is going to do as if it's already happened. He's talking about what God's going to do because in his mind he knows it's a done deal. It's guaranteed. And the things that he says here we can claim these promises to. The Lord is going to judge the world in righteousness. He's going to take everything that's broken and fix it. He's going to take that which is crooked and make it straight. He's going to rescue the oppressed. He is going to rule and reign in perfect righteousness even on this earth, and I'm so looking forward to that. But here's the thing, David had his mind on eternity. And even when he lost his child back in 2 Samuel 12, he said that he was comforted in the fact that he would see him again. This is an eternal mindset. This is the language of eternity. And the only way to maintain peace and praise when you're walking through a dark valley is to have an eternal mindset. Listen, if you get your tent stakes buried too deep in this world, you're going to be disappointed. You're going to be upset. You're never going to be satisfied. You're going to be greatly hurt. You're going to be overwhelmed. You've just got to have this eternal mindset. And there's a few examples that came to my mind, and we'll close this out. But I thought about the hymn writer. Horatio Spafford. He wrote the hymn, It Is Well With My Soul. We sang that to close out the Thanksgiving hymn saying we can do that for invitation this morning. It wouldn't hurt my feelings. Better to do it after I preach than right before. Amen. But we often don't know the story behind that hymn. Horatio Spafford was a businessman in Chicago. He lost his business in the great Chicago fire of 1871. And he tried to do what he could to make ends meet. There was a great economic downturn just two years later. And he had to send his family over to England. He was going to meet them over there and try to find work, but he sent them on a boat before he was with them. And the ship sank in the Atlantic Ocean, and all four of his daughters drowned. The only one that survived was his wife. And the only reason he knew that is when she actually made it over to England, some other boat managed to come get him. She sent a telegram back to him and all it said was, saved alone. In other words, I'm the only one that made it. His daughters are dead. Well, so eventually he gets on a ship and he goes to England to meet her and he gets to the spot near where his daughters drowned. And he's just overwhelmed. I mean, you can imagine, just overwhelmed by that. This is where it happened. But he said he was even more overwhelmed by the thought of, it is well with my soul. And that's the launching pad for the hymn. Hey, it's one thing to say it is well with your soul when money is in the bank, and the health is good, and relationships are good, friend. But when you have to bury all of your children at the same time, and you weren't even there to protect them, and you can say it as well with your soul, you've got something that goes beyond this world. You've got something that transcends this life. You're looking beyond the horizon into eternity and that has to be our mindset, friend. Listen, I'm not a gloom and doom person. I try not to be. But if you can look at what's going on in this country and think that it's always going to be the way that it's always been, I think you're going to be sadly mistaken. And chances are we're going to have to have something better than a warm bed to sleep in at night, and food in the fridge every time we're hungry, and things being as good as it's been. I believe the Lord's gonna sift his bride before he gets here. As I said before I left, maybe we'll fall out of love with everything that doesn't have anything to do with Jesus Christ. Horatio Spafford was able to say, it is well with my soul, even in that moment. I think about another family, Well, I mean, I won't get ahead of myself. I'm gonna say this. I want to talk about eternity and then we'll move on. But I actually started reading a book last night called Intellectual Schizophrenia. It was written by Rush Duny and he writes about the humanism invasion into the public school system. And in the first chapter, he had several killer quotes, but he had this one on eternity. Listen to this. Rushden, he says, as the term is commonly used, he's talking about environment, like the environment that we are in. He says, as the term is commonly used, environment refers to the world of time and space and the world of things. The physical frame within which man struggles to survive. No Christian can accept so narrow a definition of environment. His natural habitat is the universe of time and space, but he is also environed by another dimension, eternity. This dimension has dropped out of the contemporary life. The modern outlook does not include it, with the result that multitudes of people no longer feel a sense of life as participation in a cosmic adventure. They have come to believe that the world of things which can be seen, felt, measured, and tested is man's soul habitat. Belief in the reality of things not seen has dimmed or disappeared, and we are living, so the French writer Andre Malraux tells us, in the first agnostic civilization. We've forgotten about eternity. That's what we're looking forward to. Think about another family, and I really want you to remember these names and pray for them. But I encountered, while we were in Alabama, I encountered one of the saddest situations I have ever come across in my life. There's a young man by the name of Nathan Jordan. And I knew Nathan, I mean, I saw him at camps and stuff as a kid, and I know him, I know his parents better than him, but we're friends on Facebook and kind of keep up with each other. Nathan has only been married for two years. He's in his early 20s. His wife, Haley, is 24 years old. And a year ago, they had a miscarriage. So anyway, that earlier this year, she gets pregnant again, she was due in about two weeks. And about four or five days after Christmas, she started going into like, premature labor, she was doing two weeks, so they didn't think it was the end of the world, you know, not a big deal if they have to get the baby now. So she goes in for what should be some pretty routine stuff. They're more concerned about the baby because It seemed like on some of the scans and whatnot, he might have some lung issues. But it was time, they were gonna take the baby, and she's in labor and everything, and just out of the blue, I'm talking about out of nowhere, her heart stops, and she dies right on the table. So they had to take the baby, and he's fighting for his life right now, and Nikki, he might not make it or not. But if he does, if he doesn't make it, Nathan, in his early 20s, buries his wife and child, If he does survive, he's going to be raising the baby as a single father. And yet, you read their Facebook post and everything they're doing, they're giving God praise for everything in this extremely difficult time. How can you do that without an eternal perspective? You can't. If your joy and your hopes are found in this world, in this life, you're going to be devastated. He knows he's going to see Haley again. Friend, that's the comfort the gospel brings us, if you're saved. So we can worship Him for what He has done. We can worship Him and praise Him for who He is, but also what He will do. David took comfort in the character, justice, and judgment of God, knowing that He was always going to do what's right, and the eternity is going to fix everything. And no matter what you're going through, you can always praise the Lord, But what he has done, who he is, what he will do, resolved. I will praise the Lord. I'll say this and I'm done. Worship is not only a weapon. Did you know that our worship is actually warfare? It is warfare. Sometimes we used to go out to the abortion clinic and just sing hymns. And for the escorts out there that would take the women from their vehicle to the inside without keeping the people from talking to us. Man, it drove them out of their mind. They couldn't stand it. They would have to crank up their loud music just to drink. They can't stand it. Because worship is warfare. Think about Paul and Silas praising God when they were in prison and it had so much of an impact on the jailer that he says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Listen, don't be ashamed of public worship. Let somebody pay for it when they ask you how you're doing. because you're going to tell them, and you're going to tell them why you're doing that good. One writer once said, and I love this, and this is talking about praising God in the midst of our trials, one of the greatest joys of the Christian life is to fight a losing battle and yet never lose. Think about that. We win because He's already won. I will praise. Are you living a life of praise to God? I'm talking about intentional. I think there are certain ways we can do that. We can be faithful to church. We can sing the songs. We can read our Bible to get to know God. We can go to God in prayer, an acknowledgement of the need for God. That's a worship of God. We can do it with our finances. We can do it by sharing the gospel. We can do it simply by having private time with the Lord. But all these things are intentional. They never happen by accident. So we worship the Lord more in 2024. Evidently, suffering's no excuse not to.